Rochdale presentation

Rochdale Odds

As with all professional English clubs, Rochdale odds are extremely popular to bet on. Currently in a league known for its inconsistencies, Rochdale relegation odds are just as commonly bet on as odds on Rochdale to get promoted.

In big matches, such as relegation clashes or local derbies, Rochdale odds can be enhanced or offered as money back specials from a variety of bookmakers. For example, odds on Rochdale v Bury can often be enhanced, particularly in terms of Match Result bets, Paddy Power are one such bookmaker who offer these odds on a regular basis. It’s also worth considering ‘laying’ bets on matches such as this, with Matchbook being one of the better exchange bookmakers.

Rochdale match odds are popular, but many bookmakers also offer odds on events happening off the pitch. Rochdale manager odds, for example, can offer opportunities to make profit when betting on football, as can Rochdale transfer odds.

History

Rochdale AFC are a professional football club located in the town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester. The club have never played in the top two leagues in the English football system, and currently ply their trade in England’s third tier, League One.

The history of Rochdale AFC begins in 1907. The club joined the Lancashire Combination Division Two, and earned promotion in their second season. After winning the Lancashire Combination Division One for two consecutive seasons, the club moved to the Central League for the 1912/1913 season.

Rochdale played in the Central League until 1921. The club had applied to join the Football League after the First World War but were turned down, however in 1921 Rochdale accepted an invitation to join the newly created Football League Third Division North.

The club’s first season in the Third Division North was far from a success, finishing bottom of the table and having to apply to be re-elected to the division. They were successful, and the 1922/1923 season was the first of 36 consecutive years playing in the Third Division North.

For the 1958/1959 season, the Football League system was reorganised. The Third Division North and Third Division South became the Third Division and Fourth Division, and sides were no longer separated by geographical location.

Rochdale began the 1958/1959 season in the Third Division, but after finishing bottom of the table they were relegated. The club spent ten successive seasons in the Fourth Division, on many occasions fighting relegation until a third place finish in the 1968/1969 season saw Rochdale reclaim their Third Division spot.

Back in the Third Division, the club struggled to put any kind of promotion push together. Mid table finishes were achieved, but in the 1973/1974 season the club finished bottom of the league once more, culminating in their demotion back to the fourth tier.

The club struggled in the Fourth Division. In the 1977/1978 and 1979/1980 seasons the club finished bottom of the Football League and twice had to apply for re-election. Rochdale were successful on both occasions, but still the club’s form was poor. In seven of the following nine seasons, the club finished 18th place or lower, in an era that saw the club fighting for their Football League status time and time again.

The club did finish 12th in the 1989/1990 season, and followed this up with another 12th place finish and an 8th position finish as the side showed signs of progression.

In 1992, following the introduction of the Premier League, the Football League divisions were renamed. The Second Division became Division One, the Third Division Division Two and the Fourth Division Division Three. As such, Rochdale started the 1992/1993 campaign in Division Three.

The following nine seasons were an uneventful time for Rochdale, and they finished closer to the relegation zone rather than the promotion playoff places more often than not. This was until the 2001/2002 season, when a fifth place finish saw the club qualify for the playoffs for the first time in Rochdale history. Unfortunately for Rochdale, they were defeated in the semi finals by Rushden & Diamonds.

Rochdale followed this up with two brushes with relegation, but the club ultimately survived. The Football League divisions were once again renamed in time for the 2004/2005 season, with Division One becoming the Championship, Division Two League One and Division Three League Two.

Rochdale reached the playoffs again in the 2007/2008 season, but were defeated in the League Two playoff final to Stockport County.

The club’s long wait for promotion finally came to an end in the 2009/2010 campaign. A successful season saw the club finish in third place, sealing promotion taking the third automatic promotion spot.

Rochdale’s time in League One was brief. After a respectable ninth place finish in their first League One season, the club finished bottom of the pile in the 2011/2012 season and were demoted back to League Two. However, another third place finish in the 2013/2014 season saw Rochdale return to League One, where they have remained since the 2014/2015 campaign.

Crest

The Rochdale football crest is based on the coat of arms of the County Borough of Rochdale. Despite the Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council forming in 1974, thus taking over from the County Borough of Rochdale, the club continued to use the town’s former coat of arms.

The Rochdale football badge features the coat of arms inside a circle, with the club name across the top of the circle and the club nickname, ‘The Dale’, across the bottom.

The images inside the coat of arms include a bag of wool, representing the local wool industry, a plant of cotton, representing the town’s cotton industry, eight birds and the centre of a mill-stone.

The Rochdale badge also features the Latin motto ‘Crede Signo’, which means ‘believe in the sign’.

Colours

Rochdale have played in a variety of kit colours and styles since they were formed in 1907. The traditional Rochdale colours though are blue and white, though black has been used very often as a Rochdale kit colour.

When the club began playing in 1907, the Rochdale players wore black and white striped shirts with white shorts and black socks. This kit was said to have been inspired by the successful Newcastle United side at that time, who played in the same colours.

Rochdale played in their black and white stripes until 1934. 1934 saw the first introduction of blue shirts, which were worn with white shorts and blue socks. The Rochdale players wore these colours until 1957, when the club’s 50th anniversary heralded the return of black and white stripes. This time, the kit featured red rather than black socks.

From 1959 to 1967, the Rochdale kit colours were white shirts, worn with black shorts and white socks, though the 1959/1960 season saw the club continue with red socks.

The 1968/1969 season saw the return of the Rochdale colours of blue and white. Blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks were worn until 1982, although white socks were also worn on occasion.

In 1982, the club colours featured an all white kit, with a red trim. Blue and white returned the following season, with white shirts, blue shorts and white or blue socks worn until 1988.

The Rochdale kit colours were altered again in 1988. From 1988 to 2007, the club wore a blue shirt with blue shorts and blue socks. For the club’s 100 year anniversary, Rochdale brought back their first kit of black and white stripes with white shorts and black socks.

From 2008 to 2014, the Rochdale players wore blue and black striped shirts with white shorts and blue socks, before returning to plain blue shirt for the 2014/2015 season. The 2016/2017 season saw the Rochdale players wear blue shorts featuring one white and one black stripe, worn with white shorts and blue socks.

Rochdale Stadium

The Rochdale stadium is called the Crown Oil Arena, although it is widely known by its previous name Spotland. Rochdale AFC moved into this ground in 1920, and since 1988 the ground has been shared with the Rochdale Hornets rugby league side. The Rochdale stadium capacity currently stands at 10,249.

The Rochdale stadium layout features four main stands. These are the Main Stand, known as the Co-Operative Stand; the Sandy Lane End, also known as the Thwaites Beer Stand; the Pearl Street End, known as the T.D.S Stand; and the Willbutts Lane End, also called the Westrose Leisure Stand. Three of these stands are all seater stands, aside from the Sandy Lane End, which is terraced.

Supporters

The majority of Rochdale supporters come from the town of Rochdale and other areas of Lancashire. There are various Rochdale supporters clubs up and down the country, including the Rochdale Supporters Trust, Dale Trust.

Rochdale supporters enjoy a huge rivalry with those from Bury. When these two sides meet, it’s known as the M66 Derby. Whilst Rochdale see Bury as their biggest rival, Bury have a greater rivalry with Bolton Wanderers.

There are other rivalries with fellow Lancashire/Greater Manchester teams Burnley, Oldham Athletic, Stockport County and Wigan Athletic, as well as teams slightly further afield Halifax Town, Bradford City and Accrington Stanley.

Ownership

The current Rochdale owner and chairman is Chris Dunphy. Dunphy first joined the club in 1980 as a member of the board of directors, a position he held for two years. In 1990, he returned to club, becoming a director of Rochdale once again.

In 2006, Chris Dunphy became chairman of Rochdale AFC, forming a new board of directors in the process. Ten years later, Dunphy led the club to gain full control of the Rochdale stadium again, including the surrounding areas.

Stats

The list of Rochdale stats begins with the club’s all time leading appearance maker. That honour goes to Gary Jones. Jones made 477 appearances for Rochdale over four spells at the club, including two short loan spells. Jones first joined the club in 1998 on loan from Swansea City, where he made four appearances before signing on a permanent deal. From 1998 to 2001, Jones played 138 times for Rochdale, before moving to Barnsley.

In 2003, Gary Jones returned to the club on loan, making 10 appearances during this second loan spell. Again Jones signed a permanent deal, and from 2004 to 2012 he played in 325 games.

Rochdale’s all time leading goalscorer is Reg Jenkins. Jenkins scored 119 goals in 305 appearances for the club, between 1964 and 1973. Albert Whitehurst holds the record for most goals scored in a single season by a Rochdale player, scoring 44 goals duirng the 1926/1927 campaign.

The club’s record victory also came in 1926. The 1926/1927 season saw the club beat Chesterfield by eight goals to one.

Rochdale set a new record in the 2009/2010 season, gaining a club best 82 points during their time in League Two.

The highest home attendance a Rochdale side has played in front of is 24,231. This crowd watched Rochdale take on Notts County in the 1949/1950 season.

The club’s record signing is Paul Connor. Connor cost the club £150,000 from Stoke City in 2001. The highest transfer fee Rochdale have ever received is £900,000, a fee paid by Blackpool for Bobby Grant in 2013.

Rochdale Players

The current Rochdale players list consists of 27 members of the first team squad, with three Rochdale players out on loan.

Rickie Lambert is one of few players to have represented both Rochdale and England, although his 11 England appearances came seven years after his time at the club.

Rochdale Manager

The current Rochdale manager is Keith Hill. Hill joined the club in 2013, replacing John Coleman. This current spell is Hill’s second in charge of Rochdale, after holding the position of manager from 2006 to 2011.

The first man in Rochdale manager history is Billy Bradshaw, although Bradshaw only took charge of one game before being replaced by Tom Wilson.

In terms of matches played, Keith Hill has become the club’s longest serving manager, having taken control of 425 matches so far across his two spells at the club.

Hill is also second in the list of Rochdale managers with the highest win percentage. Hill currently has a win percentage of 43.8%, but is behind Jack Peart. Peart won 152 of his 317 matches in charge of Rochdale between 1923 and 1930, giving him a win percentage of 47.95.

Jack Peart is also arguably Rochdale’s most successful manager, taking the club to two Third Division North runner up spots in the 1924/1924 and the 1926/1927 campaigns. Tony Collins, who took charge of 355 Rochdale matches between 1960 and 1967, led the club to a Football League Cup runner up place.

Five Rochdale managers have led the club for over 200 matches. These are Jack Peart (317 matches from 1923 to 1930); Ted Goodier (323 matches from 1938 to 1952); Harry Catterick (238 matches from 1953 to 1958); Tony Collins (355 matches from 1960 to 1967); and Keith Hill (231 matches from 2006 to 2001, and 194 matches so far from 2013 to the current day).

Honours

The Rochdale honours list consists of two Third Division North runner up places (1923/1924 and 1926/1927); on League Cup runner up position (1961/1962); two Lancashire Combination League titles (1910/1911 and 1911/1912); and three Lancashire Cup victories (1948/1949, 1970/1971 and 2004/2005).

Rochdale's Tournaments

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